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<\/p>\nWhen it comes to bird photography I usually leave the artsy-fartsy stuff to others. But every once in a while…<\/p>\n
Yesterday morning in the mountains a combination of smoke, high clouds, warm light and a slower than usual shutter speed for flight shots resulted in a photo very different than those that usually appeal to me. But I keep coming back to it and eventually I decided I like it. A lot.<\/p>\n
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1\/2000, f\/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n For a variety of reasons I didn’t particularly like most of my photos of this Yellow Warbler while he was searching for insects in the bush but I managed to begin a short burst just before he took flight and caught him in this pose at the moment of liftoff. I like the shot very much even though it’s quite different from my usual fare.<\/p>\n Typically I prefer fast shutter speeds and sharp birds which tend to provide a crisp and almost clinical look at my subjects. And I’ve never been a fan of motion blur in the wings or busy backgrounds. But this entire photo has a ‘soft’ feel about it and at this shutter speed there’s extreme motion blur in the wings and the background is nothing if it isn’t busy.<\/p>\n But based on this photo I’ve decided that ‘busy’ can still be lovely, especially in soft warm light like this. I had just enough shutter speed to get the body of the bird sharp enough for a photo like this where I think the soft feel of the image is one of its strengths.<\/p>\n But ya know what surprised me most? For this photo at least I actually prefer the severe motion blur in the wings over having them crisp and sharp.<\/p>\n Live and learn.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Note: On my way to the mountains yesterday I actually wondered out loud if there’d still be any Yellow Warblers around. In the fall they’re one of the earliest of all migrants so I fully expected them to have already left for their wintering grounds in Central and South America. <\/em><\/p>\n